ABSTRACT
The mass migration from the Bhojpuri region was a heavy emotional loss both for the people who were left behind and for the people who were leaving. Some migrants did return, but instead of going back to their native place, they usually stayed back in Calcutta, taking up some small jobs to earn their living. So for the Bhojpuri society, this pain was very deep. It was a holistic folk culture that included songs, poetry, drama, dance, art and so on, narrating the anguish of both the people who were left behind and those who were leaving for foreign shores. The folk songs pertaining to the separation of human bonds not only merely describe the loneliness of the separated but also express various social cultural animosities within and without the family. This bidesia tradition is continuing even today, and consequently the same voices of pain and separation can be heard in the folklores of Bhojpuri region.
